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Brands are becoming more important to Chinese consumers and businesses

Technology brands see biggest rise

Chinese brands strengthen overseas presence

BEIJING, Dec. 4,
2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The third annual BrandZ™ Top 50 Most Valuable Chinese Brands study, commissioned by WPP and undertaken by
Millward Brown, was released today. This year's ranking shows that brands are becoming more important to the Chinese consumer. Despite a
challenging economic environment, strong brands outperformed their competitors and the broader stock market.

China is not immune to the global economic environment, and this year the total value of the BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Chinese Brands fell to
$320,224 million, down 1.6 percent in 2012. Despite this, brands continued to grow in importance. The BrandZ Top 50 Brands Portfolio outperformed the MSCI China Index by 11.4 percent as of
September 2012.

This year, China Mobile retains the number one spot in the rankings with a brand value of
US$50,589 million. Leading financial institutions also continue to head up the rankings - with ICBC and China Construction Bank in positions two and three respectively.

China's technology brands have seen tremendous growth, as Chinese consumers spend even more time – and money – on Internet and mobile platforms. Baidu has moved up two positions to number four and
Tencent has moved from position 10 to number five.

China's private sector and entrepreneurs are seeing growing success in building Chinese brands, with the share of non-State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in the Top 50 rising to 27 percent from 22 percent in 2011.

David Roth, CEO of The Store, WPP said, "As the growth rate of the Chinese economy slows, brands become a more important discriminator of consumer choice. As this study shows, strong brands help Chinese companies grow faster. This is set to accelerate as the Chinese economy rebalances. This, combined with the requirement for more Chinese companies to be successful overseas, will drive the necessity for creating strong Chinese brands as a critical factor for success."

Adrian Gonzalez, Head of
Greater China,
Millward Brown said, "Building strong brands domestically is a vital template for the increasing number of Chinese brand owners exploring international markets. This year's BrandZ Top 50 gives an insight into how an expanding group of privately-owned Chinese brands are growing value by meaningfully differentiating their brands."

Strong Brands Outperform the Stock Market

An analysis of the BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Chinese Brands as a "stock portfolio"' over the past two years shows that it consistently outperforms the MSCI China stock market Index. While the total return on investment (ROI) for all companies in the MSCI China Index was minus 5.6 percent in
September 2012, the BrandZ Top 50 Brands Portfolio provided a 5.8 percent ROI. This proves that companies with strong brands are able to deliver better value to their shareholders.

Four new brands have joined the rankings this year. Bank of Communications leapt into the rankings for the first time in position 15, its success due to both financial and brand factors. Key also to its inclusion is that 20 percent of its earnings came from retail banking, a key eligibility criteria for this ranking. The beer brand
Harbin joined the ranking in position 39; it linked its advertising to key sports events and carved a distinctive space in a competitive category. The apparel brands Youngor and Semir were the other new entrants this year in positions 45 and 49, respectively. Youngor benefited from a shift in taste to smarter attire and Semir continued its focus on youth whilst investing in retail outlets and the supply chain.